UPDATE
A little diary about DK's decline in participation evoked a nasty reaction from the gung-ho-ers on the site. So what?
"Me and my people are hungry
Me and my people are through
Me and my people are ready
Me and my people are just about due"
Tom Morello: "Black Spartacus Heart Attack Machine"
We are all "due."
But the answer doesn't lie in silly websites like this one that are run by fools for profit and fame using your contributions and mine without paying for them or even giving us a say in what the site stands for.
If you've read the comments to this diary, you'll see how some people get absurdly invested in some silly abstraction like a website to the point that they will lie, distort and de-humanize in order to defend something that doesn't even really exist.
Unsolicited advice: deal with people face-to-face. Build real, human relationships. Ignore the pretenses to "community" like Facebook, DailyKos and Twitter.
Shut off your phone. Grow your own.
Make love, not tweets.
(Dig the IWW hat)
I see evidence in the comments that people recognize that fewer eyes are upon this site and that the participation rate in term of diaries and comments is down.
I'm intrigued by reality-based stats, and the good news is that DK doesn't hide its stats. The esteemed and universally respected Jotter has been collecting DK data since the bacteria climbed out of slime to evolve to form Jamie Dimon.
I thought it would be interesting to compare weekly stats from the same general period in the latter part of June from three different years:
2008
2011
2012
What's your guess about the ranking of the these three years?
Well, here's the raw data about DK's decline as Jotter so conveniently collects it:
2008:
This week 1547 Kogs posted 2383 diaries of which 2274 were recommended at least once by a cadre of 7724 recommending readers and viewed by 15739; 1072 diaries were recommended by 10 or more readers, 346 by 30 or more, and 106 by 100 or more. Commenters (7868) visited 2354 diaries; 1436 had 10 or more commenters, 415 had 30 or more, and 82 had 100 or more.
2011:
This week 806 Kogs posted 1557 diaries of which 1488 were recommended at least once by a cadre of 4967 recommending readers an d viewed by 10736; 941 diaries were recommended by 10 or more readers, 369 by 30 or more, and 123 by 100 or more. Commenters (5349) visited 1553 diaries; 851 had 10 or more commenters, 326 had 30 or more, and 29 had 100 or more.
2012:
This week 689 Kogs published 1281 posts of which 1241 were recommended at least once by a cadre of 4628 recommending readers and viewed by 10007; 817 posts were recommended by 10 or more readers, 394 by 30 or more, and 112 by 100 or more. Commenters (4890) visited 1281 posts; 736 had 10 or more commenters, 309 had 30 or more, and 32 had 100 or more.
Some summary stats comparing 2008 to 2011:
Decline from 2008 to 2011:
Diaries Written: -35%
Readership: -32%
Commenters: -32%
Easy to explain, right? The third year in an election cycle is bound to be down from the excitement of an historical election.
So things must have rebounded dramatically in this, the most important election in this sector of the galaxy since the Big Bang.
So just to feel really good, let's compare this year to that miserable off year, 2011, and watch it all rebound:
Decline from 2011 to 2012:
Diaries Written: -18%
Readership: -7%
Commenters: -9%
Oops! Participation in a Presidential election year is actually down from an already down year.
So, Kossacks, what's up?
Here are some specific questions I'd invite you to address:
1) Does this reflect something about enthusiasm for the Presidential contest?
2) Do the plethora of bojos have something to do with this?
3) What is happening to Kos's advertising rates? Should we take up a collection to pay those server charges?